Abstract
A series of ordered mesoporous NbxW(8−x) oxides with tunable Nb/W ratio were successfully synthesized by evaporation-induced self-assembly method. The mesoporous structure, morphologies, surface chemical state, and acidic properties of these catalysts were fully characterized by low-temperature sorption of N2, small-angle and wide-angle XRD, TEM, Raman, XPS, and Py-IR. It was shown that the NbxW(8−x) oxides created large amounts of Lewis as well as Brønsted acid sites, which promoted the isomerization of glucose to fructose followed its dehydration to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Mannose was also formed via the epimerization of glucose. Of them, the mesoporous Nb4W4 exhibited the best catalytic activity with a comparatively low Ea about 90.2kJ/mol and good stability in aqueous medium. The kinetic behavior revealed that Lewis acid sites facilitated to glucose-to-fructose isomerization while Brønsted acid sites promoted the dehydration of fructose to form HMF.
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